RichyT23

Hello I am new to this site, my wife and I have decided to emigrate to Australia.

I was just after some advice about the job market in Australia.
Where is the best place to find work, does anyone know any good job websites I could maybe have a look at.

I currently work as a Technical Analyst and my wife is traing to be a Nurse.

I would also like some advice about Visas.
I have had a look at the immigration website but it does'nt say how much it all costs or how long it will take.

I know the family unit visa costs AU$1,795 but there are other cost involved ie. crime report, medical etc.

Do you have to have a certain amout of money in your bank account before you can emigrate?

If anyone could please help me it would be much appreciated.

Thank you
Richie

ianj

IT i spicking up in Oz albeit slowly. You can probably get an IT job in any of the cities but realistically you would be best in Sydney or Melbourne for the best chance.

Im in IT and thats why I am off to Melbourne, that and the fact that I am a singly and so can go anywhere I want with no hassle.......and the fact that Melbourne's huge and I'm going to have a ball.

Yippee

MarkMyWords

Well you'll get the best salary in Sydney or Melbourne, I'm sure there's no doubt about that. But there's more to life than salary. Consider all aspects. Climate, transport, etc, etc. (Just don't take any notice of all those get-a-new-life programmes. They merely paint a conveniently dramatic picture.)

Still, like ianj I'm in IT and heading for Melbourne. So obviously some of us think it will suit!

JackTheLad

Well said.

We started the emigration process a year ago planning to move to Melbourne. It was only about 4 months ago (before Get a new life etc) we were doing our final calculations and realised that Melbourne was more expensive than where we lived here, pay was slightly less, and we had spent 2 winters in Melbourne so knew that it can get a cold as a late november day in the UK so....


We made the decision to change to Brisbane. Wifey did loads of research, house prices are considerably lower, say about 30% lower currently, depending on the area. Wages are also lower, but with the right amount of IT experience, and being prepared to be flexible, there are plenty of IT jobs in Brizzie. Other points repeated by Markmywords clinched it Climate, transport etc.

So it can kind of be looked at as the London v rest of Britain argument. You can work your butt off for years to afford a flat in London, or you can work 9 to 5 in Glasgow/Leeds/Belfast for a nice detached bungalow. Replace London with Sydney/Melbourne, rest of Britain = Perth/Brisbane/Cairns/ Darwin.

Cheers,
JTL

mickj

Am in IT too, are you in programming, software development or networking?

JackTheLad

Programming/software development/design/support.

Thats what I meant about flexibility, I've done, or am doing most things. I got shoved into support when my current project learned I was leaving, up till then I did the design of the system, then developed it, then tested other bits of it.

I'll check out all areas when in Brisbane, I've no big career plan, I enjoy all areas, only thing I struggled with was project management. I had to do it once, the stress was unreal, if you don't have the title and thus the pushing power to get people to do as you wish, its a nightmare.

What do you do? Are you in Oz yet?

JTL

mickj

Not yet ! Am in programming, and also do networking when required. My company is looking for people to go to OZ for a year or two, and its something am considering, having spent some time there in the past

JackTheLad

So your company will be Melbourne or Sydney based?

Ignore my previous comments about Melbourne, its a great city, and the reason I decided to start the emigration process. Its just I think Brisbane will suit us even better,

good luck,
JTL

mickj

Sydney ! Melbourne is alright, but like you said, there are a lot of things that needs to be taken into consideration. So tell me, are you a windows or a linux man?

JackTheLad

Flexible (yeah i know repeating phrase).

I'm a C++ man. Java also. Bit of legacy stuff AS400, Cobol,fortran. Most of the stuff I do these days is windows, but did loads of lotus notes development (worked for Lotus on Notes for a couple of years), which is cross platform, and siebel, which is cross platfrom, so I'm not tied to anything.

What about you?

JTL

mickj

Am a JAVA man, but i also work with C, C++, COBOL, PERL, BASH and UNIX. I really enjoy the networking and security sides these days, and also build websites in my spare time, as well systems to people's specification.

For people trying to get into linux though, try knoppix ( you don't need to install it, you can run it from abootable cd ) downloadable for free, if you like it, then install SUSE

RichS

I'll try to answer the original points raised:

1. Yes you need to pay extra for police checks - I guess about 50 quid in the UK, though I've yet to find out.

2. Also you'll need to pay extra for medicals - hundreds of quid. Again I'm not in the UK so I couldnt tell you the cost there. Here in Aus its going to cost us about $800 fof a family of 4.

3. Either you or your other half will need to pass a skills assesment. This will again attract a charge, though shouldn't be much more than administrative. Once the other half is qualified and has worked a year let me suggest to you that nursing would be the way to go. IT is a stiffer ask these days.

4. IT jobs - Try jobnet.com.au or jobsearch.com.au or through smh.com.au.

5. Location - if you've got the right skills then you'll get a decent job anywhere. Yes housing costs more in Sydney, but you need to think about other things too - a flight home will cost $2000 ret wherever you live, so for 2 of you thats $4000 before you've even had a trip home. How often do you plan to do this? etc etc. I say this because over here and on this site everyone talks about housing and housing alone. Sure some places are cheaper than others, but the wages tend to go down too. Cars/petrol/air fares etc tend to be more static.

6. Wages - a 70,000 job in Sydney will pay about 60 in Melb and 50 or less in Brisbane - I know I've been looking. There are exceptions, but theres the general rule. Nurses wages are set by a national award and state to state variance tends to be less marked - which means if you both intend to work then you will probably enjoy a better lifestyle in QLD and/or VIC. I'm afraid in common with most normal folk I've no idea what goes on in Perth.

RichyT23

Thanks very much for all your help, I realise I have a lot of options to discuss.
I am currently working with unix/linux,AS400,SQL, dable in ingres and oracle but have no formal qualifications in these yet.
I am currently studying for a MSCE so hopefully this will help.

My wife will be finished her nursing studies next year so that should help us on our way.
In the mean time I am saving as much money as possible, does anyone know how much you need to have in your bank account??

Cheers
Richie

RichS

I think having money in accounts only comes into play for certain sorts of visa application. I'm currently lodging an application with the wife's nursing skills. We are sponsored by her employer. There is no mention of having cash.
In some applications or where you might be short on skills there is a section where they ask you to lodge a bond, but not sure about that.

You might actually consider your other half getting hold of a 457 visa as a nurse upon qualifying. You'd then qualify to work also. She'd be tied to a single employer - not a problem with a hospital iI guess - but the beauty of this is that you could work for whoever you liked.
Visa goes for about 2-3 years.

RichyT23

With the skills I have we are eligable for a permenant skilled visa so that is one of our options which is looking quite favourable at the moment